The Asian Development Bank is on course to achieving a development financing milestone.
In an internal memo sent to staff last week, ADB President Takehiko Nakao said donors to the bank’s Asian Development Fund have given their “formal and unanimous consent” to merge ADF with the Ordinary Capital Resources to increase the financial institution’s capacity to “do more” for the Asia-Pacific region.
Nakao first floated the proposal last year at the bank’s annual meeting in Kazakhstan. The approach entails “leveraging” available resources to be able to do more without asking for additional donor money. This was the ADB chief’s innovative solution to a problem he faced when he took the helm in April 2013: How to make the Manila-based institution a much more relevant player in the region’s development.
About the author
Lean Alfred Santos@DevexLeanAS
Lean Alfred Santos is a former Devex development reporter focusing on the development community in Asia-Pacific, including major players such as the Asian Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. He previously covered Philippine and international business and economic news, sports and politics.
